About Me

I'm Jason and I was born and raised in Manila. I started writing professionally at age 19, when my byline first appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I then became one of its student correspondents, and my assignments included being a gasoline boy and a T.G.I. Friday's waiter for a day.
At present, I'm an Intranet content manager and a contributing lifestyle journalist.
My work has also appeared in SilkWinds (Singapore), Aspire (Hong Kong), and www.interaksyon.com.
I mainly blog about food, movies, and occasionally, current events.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

From the trailer alone, I could already sense that this was going to be a serious movie. From the voice over to the slow-motion shots, it was all so unnecessarily dramatic.

There's such palpable pall cast over this entire film, from the script down to the actors, that no one was allowed to make a joke, save for a police officer in the last 10 minutes of the film.

Everyone is so gaddamn grim and serious. Even serious journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) just had to make it known that she is a Pulitzer winner, as if the other Lois Lanes in the Superman franchise had a BA degree in lipstick, minor in miniskirts.

Even Superman (Henry Cavill) is not happy because he is not allowed to use his powers, because his dad told him so.

<sarcasm>There is so much to feel sorry for Superman; my heart goes out to him. :-( </sarcasm>

It was depressing. The world has Superman and all the filmmakers could focus on--pessimistically--was the weight of such a 'problem' -- how a child could possibly process, much more, bear such responsibility; how governments could trust one man having alien powers*. This is a fantasy movie--if we really are going to take everything so seriously, deal with existential problems, and take an academic approach to Superman, etc. then WHY MAKE HIM WEAR A CAPE? (Though I won't be surprised if the DVD extra does include a feature on the science behind the cape.)

In an attempt to humanize Superman, we get this convoluted prologue and epilogue (the movie felt that long), and everyone is explaining everything in detail, even the science behind science fiction, and so I look at my watch.

In a few words: This movie is trying hard to be Dark Knight/Watchmen, which is ironic since the men responsible for those movies are both involved in this one.

I will ascribe this to birth pains and pressure. The sequel should give them more freedom since they won't have to explain Superman's back story any longer.

On a positive note, the fight scenes were what it would probably look like if superheroes did fight.

Also, Superman is hot. And I like it how he doesn't even seem to be aware of it.

By the way, no need to splurge on 3D or IMAX - the 3D effects were not that heavy.

_______________

*Recent film portrayals of Spiderman and Batman also gave credence to these issues but they worked--I felt sorry for them.

Monday, June 03, 2013

I've been interviewing people for more than a month now. To applicants, kindly consider the following tips:

Apologize for being late, even if it's just for one minute. I can understand if you woke up late or got stuck in traffic or in the elevator, had a mini accident with your heels or shirt, makeup or whatever—I will understand it—but please say sorry.

On that note, please don't be late. Not everyone can be as accommodating.

Please stand up when the interviewer enters the room, even if you're female. I even read somewhere that you're not supposed to sit down until the interviewer arrives but I think that's too much.

If you know the job entails working with different nationalities, please try to speak English even if you think you're bad at it—I don't mind, unless of course it is part of the job requirement (e.g., editorial). The nationalities you will be working with probably aren't that well-versed in English too, especially if it's not their first language.

Brush your hair. Look neat and pristine.

At one point in the interview, I purposely stay silent for a long, long time. I'd like to see if you'll take the moment to further assert your qualifications.

If you're applying for a leadership role, you'd want to be assertive.

It's a thin line between grit and arrogance. I can't help on this.

For the love of Charice, please don't reply "wala lang" to any question. Ever.

Also don't say "malibog" when you're asked about how you think your friends will describe you*. It makes for a memorable interview, but for the wrong reason.

An interview should also be a conversation. Do ask professional questions; they should help you determine the attractiveness of the job and company you're applying for/in.

These 'small' details may matter if it all else ends up equal between you and another candidate.

_______________*Yes, this happened. He had an extremely nice build and he was wet from the rain. He's now working with us. I kid, I kid!!!

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Bill Cunningham, the fashion photographer of The New York Times, is a genuinely nice person. He has good manners and is very pleasant with the people he encounters—there is no mean bone in his body. Hence, together with testimonials from his friends, the documentary is generally a cheery and feel-good film, at least until he had to confront questions about his sexuality and religion.

Excerpt from Bill Cunnigham New York.

Earlier in the film, when he was asked about his family, he described his parents as Catholic, a qualification which I found interesting for him to have used. (An alarm goes off in my head whenever I read or hear the word; I basically gird myself.) And although the clip above is just an excerpt of about 4 minutes on the subject, the filmmakers have decided to let Mr. Cunningham’s short answers and silence speak for themselves.